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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
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#24
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
wrote:
wrote: While riding around the past several days I've noticed some amazingly unsafe riding by what I assume are not serious cyclists. (snip) Compared to tailgating and slashing through traffic moving a 70mph? While talking on a cell phone? (Just a little perspective, let's also include "loaded vehicle weight".) A cyclist running a red light can start a chain reaction as cars start swerving to avoid hitting him. The danger is not limited to the cyclist hitting someone. Art Harris |
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
An anonymous poster wrote:
A license could accomplish two things: 1. A bicycle rider would have to know the laws appicable to bicycles in order to obtain the license. 2. The threat of license revocation would aid in law enforcement in the same manner as with the automobile license. That's true. And while we're at it, a law requiring that every citizen have his/her social security number tatooed onto his/her forehead would also be a boon to law enforcement. A universal dusk to dawn curfew enforced by martial law would greatly reduce many sorts of crime. However there are limits to what a free society is prepared to sacrifice ... And by the way, what about the breathtakingly cynical hypocrisy of using the name "Patriot Act" for a law that has NOTHING to do with patriotism? Sheldon "Freedom" Brown +------------------------------------------------------------+ | What are politicians going to tell people when the | | Constitution is gone and we still have a drug problem? | | -- William Simpson, A.C.L.U. | +------------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com |
#26
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
Sheldon Brown wrote: wrote: How do people feel about licenses to ride a bike ? No WAY! There is a common law right of all people to travel on the public roadways, going back to prehistoric times. When the automobile appeared on the scene, it was immediately recognized that this was an unprecedentedly dangerous device, so special requirements were created to regulate it. It is clearly understood that the permission to operate a motor vehicle on public roadways is a priviledge, not a right.. None of this has any legal effect on everybody's right to travel the roads under their own power. Sheldon "A Right, Not A Priviledge" Brown Newtonville, Massachusetts Hmmm. Is the line in the sand more defensibly drawn at "operating a powered vehicle" or "operating a machine of any type"? I'd never propose requiring a license to pedestrianize your way about town, but is a bike not more like a car than a pair of feet? Is the presence of a motor the big deal, or the quantitative ability to cause damage and injuries to others? What about licensing not riders but bikes and making them carry actual legible number plates, a la Kronans perhaps, so a complainant could at least hope to identify the miscreants among us? Unsecurability of the number plates would probably kibosh that. Odd there aren't more stolen car license plates, really. (In addition to car license plates, should we issue drivers with big cards being their DL numbers, and require them to position the cards visibly in the rear window of whatever car they're driving? Should these cards be colour coded to indicate status as a new driver, or one convicted of certain offences recently?) Back on the topic, I suspect that most of the offenders that the OP saw actually *had* DLs in their pockets, except for those who'd had theirs yanked due to DUIs (always my first assumption when I see an obvious non-cyclist - you know who I mean - on a bike). So most have been, nominally, exposed to the usual prattle of rules and regs. Rather than licenses I'd prefer a massive advertising campaign along the lines of "bikes belong on the road and they'd damn well better act like it" accompanied by a crackdown on crummy cycling *and* bike-unfriendly motoring (ideally, as others have mentioned, by cops on bikes). Chip C Toronto PS What's up with Kronan number plates, anyway? Are they actual valid license numbers, anywhere? |
#27
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
: : How do people feel about licenses to ride a bike ? : : I don't think it's practical or necessary. What's needed is : enforcement. When scofflaw cyclists start getting traffic tickets, : they'll think twice about running red lights. : : Art Harris I think what we need is education. Education for the children about bicycles not being sidewalk toys, as a start. Even adults think there are no rules for bicycles. Education is a start, but enforcement of existing laws is good, too. Pat in TX : |
#28
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
: : The sole potential issue behind licensing is safety. You won't : improve *cycle* safety by requiring licenses, you will merely increase : government size and reduce the number of bikes on the road. I disagree. You will improve cycle safety by requiring education as to rights and responsibilities of the cyclist. Most people here in Texas have not a single clue about laws applicable to bicycles. Oh yes, with education, safety could definitely be improved. : : Licensing cyclists is a bad idea. It doesn't make sense for safety : reasons, it's demonstrably bad from an environmental standpoint, and : it's rotten policy economically. No, it's not a bad idea if done properly. It will increase safety quite a bit when cyclists stop doing inane stunts on the public roadways. Pat in TX |
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
"Dion Dock" wrote in message ... : Let us not forget that motor vehicles require licenses. I don't know where : you live, but I routinely see the following: : : * running yellow/red lights : * speeding : * failure to come to a complete stop : * turning without signal : * weaving : * tailgating : * passing bicycles without leaving enough room (3' per the Oregon drivers : manual) : : I think people hold bikes to a higher standard; maybe because they know the : chances of a cyclist getting a ticket are much lower. : : A license would solve this how? : : -Dion It would help solve the problems because the operators of the bicycles would have to take a course in the laws pertaining to bicycle use. I think people do not hold bikes to a higher standard---they just like to gripe when somebody gets away with something that they would like to do. Pat in TX |
#30
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Bicycle Safety and Licenses
: A license could accomplish two things: : : 1. A bicycle rider would have to know the laws appicable to bicycles : in order to obtain the license. : : In other words, kids too young to understand the laws would be barred : from riding bikes. Intensely bad idea. In Germany, the kids have to take the cycling course at age 10. Is that too young to understand? No, it isn't. They assume that kids younger than that are not riding in the street, anyway. |
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